Rolling mill of the reducing type



Dec. 5, 1967 Filed July 25, 1964 FIG] c. E. GILLET 3,355,923

ROLLING MILL OF THE REDUCING TYPE 7 Sheets-Sheet l Inven mr CHARLESEUGENEG\LLET Dec. 5, 1967 c. E. GILLET ROLLING MILL OF THE REDUCING TYPE'7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 23, 1964 Dec. 5, 1967 c. E. GILLEZT3,355,923

ROLLING MILL OF THE REDUCING TYPE Filed July 23, 1964 7 Sheets-Sheet 5Inv @nvor Cumucs Euasm; Gmsr g7 Magoo mum M M Adrov'nms Dec. 5, 1967 c.E. GILLET ROLLING MILL OFTHE REDUCING TYPE 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed July23, 1964 FIGS Invenoir CHARLES EuaENaGuLE'r Dec. 5, 1967 c E. GILLETROLLING MILL OF THE REDUCING TYPE 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 23, 1964mm on ow Inverfi-or CHARLES Eugene GULLET MM, mm. (gmxm 1l Wi|kililMomeys Dec. 5, 1967 c. E. GILLET ROLLING MILL OF THE REDUCING TYPE '7Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed July 23, 1964 & Inverfi'or CHARLES EUGENE Gm. BY AMmQA-Lm n\ vgM -& ig

Mkomeys Dec. 5, 1967 c. E. GlLLET 3,355,923

ROLLING MILL OF THE REDUCING TYPE Filed July 23, 1964 7 Sheets-Sheet 7-nverflOY CHARLEs EUGENE GKLLET 5 g, \UmL... *EMLLM A'Worneys UnitedStates Patent 3,355,923 ROLLING MILL OF THE REDUCING TYPE Charles EugeneGillet, Paris, France, assignor to Societe Anonyme dite: Societe deConstructions de Montbard Filed July 23, 1964, Ser. No. 384,722 Claimspriority, application France, July 25, 1963, 942,706, Patent 1,490,464 7Claims. (Cl. 72-224) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rolling millcomprising in combination with a suitable control unit, a plurality ofinterchangeable and individually removable roll housings, apparatus forclamping said roll housings individually to a common frame, apparatusfor clamping said roll housings together as a group unitary with saidframe so that the resulting housing assembly is formed into a rigidblock which acts as a unit to resist those shocks resulting from suddenchanges in the rolling force, and a piston-operated toothed rack forseparating said roll housings from each other longitudinally of theframe when said clamping means is released.

The present reducing rolling mills for tubes or equivalent productsusually include removable and independent roll housings or stands.

The fastening of said housings at their working position is oftentimes acomplex problem, as it must be extremely precise, substantially rigidand quickly done, so as to reduce to a minimum the idle times resultingfrom a change of housings.

Said requirements, which are difficult to reconcile, do not appear ashaving been properly met up to now. Either cylindrical or other shapedhousings, individually fixed on the rolling mill frame, are utilized.

It happens that, in conventional installations, after a relatively shorttime of operation, the abovementioned requirements are no longer metbecause of the play resulting from the machining tolerances and thedamage to the positioning surfaces which results from the repeated andsevere shocks imparted to the housings or stands when the products beingrolled are engaged.

The present invention has for its object a novel reducing roll millarranged so as to obivate the abovementioned defects, said reducing rollmill being of the common ype or of the calibrating type or of theso-called traction type.

Such a roll mill is essentially characterized by the fact that, incombination with an appropriate control arrangement, it includes arolling assembly comprising a series of interchangeable housings orstands, which may be dismounted either as a whole or separately, saidhousings not only being independently fastened to a frame, but beingalso clamped firmly together against a frame stop member so that thehousing assembly prestressed in this manner forms a very rigid block,which is unaffected by the shocks and damage usually occu-ring as aconsequence of sudden variations in the rolling forces.

As said force has to be maintained as long as the rolling assembly is atits working position, it is advantageous that the device applying saidforce should be either of the irreversible type, or of the locked type.For eX- ample, said device may be:

mechanical (screws, wedges, cams etc.)

hydraulic (hydraulically or mechanically locked rolls) On the otherhand, during the operation of a reducing -roll mill, it may well happenthat all of the housings 3,355,923 Patented Dec. 5, 1967 have to bechanged; this change becomes necessary, in particular:

when the degree of wear of the finishing housingswhich happens at afaster rate than that of the other housings-4s so great that the size ofthe final product is no longer correct when it is desired to change thesize of the final prodnot.

Now, when the clamping force on the housings is released, said housingsmay nevertheless remain stuck together, so that it may be diflicult toremove from the assembly of housings those housings which it is desiredto replace.

This is why, in accordance with the present invention, the clampingarrangement for said housings is associated with a separating devicewhich acts to maintain a gap between the housings such that the housingor housings which are to be changed may be taken out easily, without anyrisk of damaging their contacting surfaces, by means of a suitablehandling device.

Said separating device may consist, for example, of longitudinal racksactivated by a jack whose teeth mesh with notches in the housings, thepitch of said racks being greater than the distance between the axes ofthe housings by that distance by which it is required to separate themduring removal. Through the action of the jack, the rack teeth come,successively, into contact with a corresponding boss supported by thehousings, so that said housings are successively separated one from theother.

It should be noted that the inventive arrangement of the housings orstands is independent of the connection between, the frame supportingthe housings, and the part of the reducing roll mill comprising thecontrol device.

In fact, the frame may be permanently mounted on a base which is commonto the whole roll mill assembly. In that case, each time a housing ischanged, the abovementioned rolling assembly is assembled at the workstation, the housings being removed and replaced by any suitablehandling device.

The frame which receives the housings together with their clamping,blocking and spacing arrangements could also be of a removable type andheld. in working position by locking it by means of any suitablearrangement to the rolling mill base.

Such an arrangement makes it possible, by utilizing two identicalhousing-supporting frames, to have a standby rolling unit readiedwithout stopping the operation of the roll-mill. Said standby rollingunit may be substituted, through appropriate handling means, for a unitremoved from the housing assembly, in a minimum time.

The abovementioned arrangements relative to the clamping of the housingsand their change-over are utilized in combination with coupling sleeveswhich transmit the driving action to the housings and, if necessary,with rolling unit exchange arrangements which leave free the spaceadjacent to the furnace which supplies the reducing assembly, andrequiring for handling a space only twice the length of the rollingassembly.

In order to provide a better understanding of the present invention,there Will now be given, in a purely illustrative manner, a descriptionof two embodiments thereof in reference with the annexed drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a schematic top plan view of one of said embodiments with therolling unit coupled to the control unit;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of FIG. 1 taken in the direction of arrow F;

FIG. 3 is an end view of said embodiment taken in the direction of thearrow F in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of the rolling housings;

FIG. is an enlarged view taken along the line V-V of FIG. 1 showing thecoupling of the rollers and the general arrangement of a housing;

FIG. 6 is a detailed sectional view taken along the line VIVI' of FIG. 1showing the coupling device of FIG. 5 disconnected from the rollerdriving shaft;

FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to FIG. 6, with the coupling device atits connected position;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line VIH VIII of FIG. 1;

FIG 9 is a reduced scale schematic sectional view taken along the lineI-X1X of FIG. 5, showing the roller housings with their separatingdevice in inoperative position;

FIG. is aview corresponding to FIG. 9 showing the housings in theirdrawn-apart position;

FIG. 11' is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing an alternate embodiment ofthe rolling block translation device;

FIG. 12 is an elevational view of said second embodiment taken in thedirection of arrow F of FIG. 11; and

FIG. 13 is a schematic top plan view showing the general arrangement ofthe rolling unit and of its rolling housing transfer devices.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the location of theinventive control unit (not shown) has been designated A and that of therolling unit has been designated B.

The kinematic assembly of the control unit driven by motor 1 includestwo lines of staggered shafts 25 (FIG.

6). Said shafts extend from casing 2 afhxed to a base whereupon alsobears fixed frame 3 including two beams 3a, 35 supporting frame 4 uponwhich the interchangeable rolling unit housings 5-5:: are mounted.

It should be noted also that housings or stands 5 are roll housingswhile housings 5a are intended to convey the products being reducedtowards the roll mill exit end when the abovementioned roll housings arenot all operated simultaneously. Housings or stands 5a have a thicknessdouble of that of roll housings 5.

Frame 4 comprises two metal beams 4a, 4b (FIGS. 3 and 5) at the top partof which is aihxed plate 6 (FIG. 5 comprising two longitudinal guidingrails 7 and 8 which effect the positioning of housings S5a.

At one of its ends, frame 4 includes an abutment plate 9 comprisingbosses 9a, and, at its opposite end, a bearing plate 1%. Said platecomprises suitable reinforcements 11 (FIG. 8). Plate It supports ahydraulic device comprising jacks 12 having shafts 12a (FIGS. 8, 9 and10).

Jacks i3, mountedon frame 4 lock or clamp said frame on framework 3(FIG. 11) through their shafts 13a extendingthrough lugs 30 supported bybeams 3a, 3b of framework 3 (FIG. 5).

Frame 4' also carries a series of hydraulic jacks 14, each of said jacksactuating a key 15 (FIG. 5) which looks a housing on said frame. It alsocarries hydraulic jacks 16 which control the longitudinal movement oftwo racks 17 whose teeth 17a mesh in recesses 5b in the bottom of thehousings (FIGS. 9 and 10).

Frame 4 also supports the manifolds for the lubricant tubes, for thecooling water of the rollers and for the various hydraulics circuits(not shown).

As best seenin FIG. 5, the upper and lower face of the roller housingsor stands each include a trapezoidal groove 27 and a smooth bearingsurface 28, grooves 27 receivingthe abovementioned rail 7, while thebearing surfaces 28 engage rail 8.

Said upper and lower faces carry two bosses 2% having an opening 30which receives the corresponding key 15 which looks the housing on theframe.

The housing or stands also carry bosses 31 at their opposed verticalfaces.

There will now be described in detail, with reference to FIGS. 5, 6 and7, the arrangement which couples shaft 24- of each of the reducing rollsto the corresponding driving shaft 25 of the control unit.

On each shaft 24, a sleeve 33 is keyed, and said sleeve carries adjacentone end an outer spherical gear 34 cooperating with an internal spurgear 35 at the end of a coupling sleeve 2-6. Sleeve 25 also includeslongitudinal inner serrations 36 cooperating with an external sphericalgear 37 on the end of sleeve 38 which is keyed to'the end of drivingshaft 25. A spring member 39 is inserted between a bearing collar 4%fixed to sleeve 26 and a Washer 41 fixed to the end of sleeve 38. Saidspring member 39 is compressed, when the coupling arrangement isdisconnected, by a disconnecting cross beam 42 actuated by the hydraulicjacks 43 mounted on the opposite sides of housing 2 (FIG. 1).

Cross-beam 42 comprises, at the opposed longitudinal edges thereof,staggered semicircular recesses 44, as clearly seen on FIG. 8, saidrecesses receiving the abovemention'ed sleeves 26.

It should be noted that each coupling arrangement includes asemi-elastic mounting which, in working conditions, makes it possible toaccomodate a slight misalignment of shaft 25 and shaft 24 of thecorresponding roller housing.

Said semielastic mounting is constructed as follows:

An end part 45, which carries a resilient ring 46, the periphery ofwhich cooperates with bore 47 of sleeve 26, is fastened to the end ofshaft 25.

The mounting of the roller housings or stands is effected as follows:

After having clamped frames 4 and 3 to each other by means of rods 13aof jacks i3, jacks 12 being held inoperative, the housings are thenplaced upon rails 7 and 8 of framework 4, the even numbered housingsbeing inverted in relation with the odd numbered ones in a manner suchthat the reducing rolls are offset by 60 from one housing to the nextone. The housings are automatically positioned by longitudinal rails 7and 8, trapezoidal grooves 27 and bearings 28. Keys 15 are then put intoposition and the housings are clamped against stop plate 9 by jacks 12.The presence of the bosses 3i, however, ensures that a sufficient spaceremains between the housings to introduce a torch or blowpipetherebetween. As hereinabove indicated, during said operation, racks 17are at their retracted position relative to the housings, that is withtheir teeth at their inoperative position.

The unit assembled in this manner may now be brought into engagementwith control unit A, said displacement being effected by an overheadcrane or by mounting framework 4, comprising wheels, on a movable frameassociated with a suitable translation mechanism.

Whichever mode of translation is utilized, when shafts 25 are alignedwith shaft 24 of the roller housings 5-5a, the disconnecting cross-beam42 is released by actuation of jacks 43. At this time, springs 39 areagain operative and automatically effect the connection of the gears ofthe coupling devices.

The disconnection of said coupling devices is effected by the reverseoperation through jacks 43.

The rolling assembly may then be removed and replaced by another standbyassembly.

If only a few housings (finishing housings for example) are to bechanged, it is sufiicient to compress springs 39, by means of cross-beam42 actuated by jacks 43, thus disconnecting the coupling members. It isthen possible to unclamp and separate the housings or stands by means ofracks 17 actuated by jacks 16 and to exchange only the requiredhousings, the lifting of said housings being effected by hooking ahauling apparatus onto the bosses, and then finally to reclamp andtighten the assembly.

It has been noted above that the roll assembly could be provided withWheels and associated with a translation arrangement.

FIGS. 1, 2 and 12 show an illustrative embodiment of such anarrangement.

Framework 4 is provided with a first series of wheels 50, parallel tothe axis of the rolling operations and with a second series of wheels51, normal to said first series of wheels.

The translation arrangement is provided with two horizontal maneuveringbeams 52 (FIG. 2), normal to the axis of rolling, which can be lifted orlowered by hydraulic jacks 53 (FIG. 3). At one end, beams 52 are fittedinto the frame 3, under the housing carrier or truck at its workingposition.

Beams 52 have, at their upper part, a race 54 supporting wheels 51 ofthe housing carrier.

All along its length, each beam 52 supports an endless chain 55 providedwith dogs 56 cooperating with arms 4c pivotally mounted on frame 4, saidarms driving the housing carriers, as will be explained further on.Chains 55 are mounted between a driving wheel 57 and an idler wheel 57a,provided with a tensioning device. The driving wheels of each chain aredriven by a stationary power device 58 comprising speed reducing means.

The control mechanism includes two groups of angle levers 59-59;:located under each beam, said levers being mounted on axes 60 pivotallymounted in bearings 61, supported by frame 62. All the levers of a groupare pivotally connected on the one hand, to one of the manoeuveringbeams 52 and, on the other hand, at 64 to a link 65 connected to rod 53aof the corresponding jack 53 (FIG. 3).

At 66 is a trackway perpendicular to the manoeuvering beams 52. Therails of said trackway carry wheels 50 of the housing carrier or truck.Said rails are extended to the point 66a (FIG. 13), for purposes whichwill be described later on, at such a level, that said manoeuveringbeams may pick up or release a housing carrier thereon.

A standby frame is located at 67 perpendicular to beams 52, at theopposite side of the rolling mill and spaced from the trackway 66, saidstandby frame being made, for example, of welded channel irons, andbeing at such a level that beams 52, actuated in the abovementionedmanner, may pick up from or release on said standby frame a housingcarrier (position c in dotted lines of FIG. 13). However, the housingcarrier occupies, when on said standby frame, a level substantiallyhigher than that of the housing carrier at its work position, so that acarrier in its Work position may be cleared off by dogs 56 withoutcoming into contact with the arm 40 of a carrier located on frame 67.

A pneumatic jack 68, Whose axis is parallel to the axis of the trackway66-66a translates said housing carrier along said way.

In order to explain the operation of said arrangement, it will beassumed that one housing carrier is at its rolling position a, between aconventional tunnel type furnace 69 and a pipe cutting station 70, asshown in FIG. 13, while a second standby housing or stand carrier is atb on the trackway 66a.

After having unlocked the housing plate holder at working station a,beams 52 are sufficiently lifted by jack 53 and levers 59-59a so thatrails 54, which they support, come to bear under Wheels 51 and lift thecarrier relatively to frame 3 for making possible the transfer thereofinto position c on the standby frame 67 by means of the shifting chains55 and arms 4c at their active position.

At this time, by means of jack 68, the carrier at standby position b isbrought at position a on trackway 66. Now by again actuating jack 53 andcrank levers 59-59a, beams 52 are lifted to clear out said carrier sothat it may be displaced by chains 55 to position a (FIG. 13). Bylowering beams 52, the carrier is lowered on frame 3, then is locked onframe 4, connected by cross beam 42;

then the rolling operation may be immediately started.

It is obvious that instead of effecting the abovementioned operationsthrough the sequence a, c, b, a, it can be effected through the sequencea, d, b, c, a.

It should be understood that the abovementioned embodiments have beendescribed in an illustrative rather than limitative manner and mayreceive any structural modifications without departing from the scope ofthe present invention.

For example, the arrangement of the abovedescribed housings or standsremains applicable whatever may be the shape and the structure of saidhousings, especially with respect to the number of reducing rolls andthe kinematic chain transmitting the rolling speeds and torques to eachroller.

For example, said kinematic chain associated with a rolling housing orstand may comprise:

(a) a single input shaft supporting one of the reducing rollers anddriving, through gears, the other rollers in turn mounted on secondaryshafts.

(b) one input shaft for every reducing roll, said roll being eitherdriven directly by said shaft or, if it is supported by a secondaryshaft, being driven through gears.

It should be noted also that instead of utilizing manoeuvering beams 52actuated by jack 53, for lifting and displacing the carrier, it ispossible, as shown on FIGS. 11 and 12, to vertically displace wheels 51by jacks 71 mounted on each side of the axis of wheels 51.

In that case, the rails provided for the displacement of the carrier areall situated in the same plane.

Finally, especially for low capacity rolling mills, the couplingarrangement such as described in connection with FIG. 6 may besimplified by translating the casing 2 as a unit.

What is claimed is:

1. In a rolling mill comprising a plurality of roll housings, anelongated common frame for supporting said roll housings, an abutment onsaid frame, releasable means for clamping said roll housings as a groupto said abutment, and a control unit for driving the rolls in saidhousings when said housings are clamped to said abutment, theimprovement which comprises means for forcibly separating said rollhousings from each other longitudinally of said frame when said clampingmeans is released.

2. A rolling mill as claimed in claim 1 in which said roll housings areprovided with abutment surfaces which extend transversely of said commonframe when said roll housings are mounted thereon, and said separatingmeans comprises a rack equipped with teeth and power means for movingsaid rack from a first position in which said teeth permit said rollhousing to be clamped together to a second position in which said teethbear on said abutment surfaces and thereby hold said roll housingsapart.

3. A rolling mill as claimed in claim 1 in which said roll housingscomprise surfaces which extend transversely with respect to saidsupporting frame, and projections which extend from said surfaceslongitudinally of said frame and thereby prevent the surfaces ofadjacent roll housings from coming into contact with each other whensaid roll housings are clamped to said abutment.

4. A rolling mill as claimed in claim 1 in which said control unitcomprises a separate transmission shaft for the rolls of each rollhousing and each roll housing carriers an individual drive shaft whichis aligned with a transmission shaft when said r-oll housings areclamped to said abutment, a coupling sleeve slidably carried on eachtransmission shaft, means biassing each coupling sleeve toward the drivealigned therewith, a projection extending from each transmission shaftinto each sleeve, and resilient means carried by said projection whichengages and guides the inner wall of said sleeve.

5. A rolling mill as claimed in claim 1 comprising a first set of wheelsmounted on said supporting frame to support said frame duringlongitudinal movement, and a second set of wheels mounted on said frameto support said frame during transverse movement.

6. A rolling millas claimed in claim 5 comprising a set of rails forsupporting each set of wheels and means for raising and lowering one setof rails to bring said one set of rails into and out of a positionengaging a set of Wheels.

7. A rolling mill as claimed in claim 6 comprising a plurality ofparallel sets of rails for supporting said frame during longitudinalmovement, and in which the set of rails which may be raised and loweredsupports said frame for transverse movement, said rolling mill furthercomprising means for moving said frame along said last mentioned set ofrails, when that set is in its raised position, from aposition above oneset of longitudinal rails to a position over another set of longitudinalrails.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Kooks 72224 Schmitler 649 Hamann64-8 Rockhofi 72239 OBrien 648 Croset 648 Hergeth 72224 OBrien 7223 9Wilson et' al 72-239 Chang 72-237 Swallow et al 72-239 15 RICHARD J.HERBST, Primary Examiner.

A. RUDERMAN, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A ROLLING MILL COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF ROLL HOUSING, AN ELONGATED COMMON FRAME FOR SUPPORTING SAID ROLL HOUSINGS, AN ABUTMENT ON SAID FRAME, RELEASABLE MEANS FOR CLAMPING SAID ROLL HOUSINGS AS A GROUP TO SAID ABUTMENT, AND A CONTROL UNIT FOR DRIVING THE ROLLS IN SAID HOUSINGS WHEN SAID HOUSINGS ARE CLAMPED TO SAID ABUTMENT, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES MEANS FOR FORCIBLY SEPARATING SAID ROLL HOUSINGS FROM EACH OTHER LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID FRAME WHEN SAID CLAMPING MEANS IS RELEASED. 